Agenda - Planning Commission - 08/06/2015

Home

June 25, 2015 I Volume 9 1 Issue 12 Zoning Bulletin Enforcement of Regulations— Property owner appeals notice of town ordinance violation Court addresses issue of whether notice of violation is appealable Citation: Paradis v. Town of Peru, 2015 ME 54, 2015 WL 2114385 (Me. 2015) MAINE (05/07/15)—This case addressed the issue of whether a notice of ordinance violation could be appealed. The Background/Facts: In 2010, Donald R. Paradis ("Paradis") applied for and obtained a building permit to construct a two -car garage on a parcel of property in Peru, Maine (the "Town"). In August 2013, the Town sent Paradis a notice of violation that the garage violated multiple town ordinance provisions. Paradis appealed to the Town's Board of Appeals (the "Board"). The Board concluded that the town ordinance provisions had been properly applied. The Board denied Paradis' appeal. Paradis again appealed to superior court. The superior court affirmed the Board's judgment. Paradis again appealed. DECISION: Judgment of superior court vacated, and matter remanded. The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine held that the notice of violation is- sued to Paradis was not an appealable decision. As such, the court did not reach the merits of the appeal. The court noted that, under Maine law, "[u]ntil very recently, appeals of notices of violation were not justiciable because a notice merely provided an interpretation.of an ordinance; unless and until a municipality acted to enforce the decision in some meaningful way, appeals from notices of violation were `dismissed as calling for an advisory opinion.' " The court further noted that, in 2013, however, the Maine Legislature enacted a statutory amendment providing for board of appeals and Superior Court review of municipal notices of violation. Thus, since October 2013, under 30-A M.R.S. § 2691(4), "[absent an express provision in a charter or ordinance that certain decisions of its code enforcement officer or board of appeals are only advisory or may not be appealed, a notice of violation or an enforcement order by a code enforcement officer under a land use ordinance is reviewable on appeal by the board of appeals and in turn by the Superior Court under the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 80B." Here, the notice of violation against Paradis was sent before the effective date of § 2691(4). Moreover, the Town's Ordinance expressly stated that no appeal from a notice of violation could be taken. (The Town's Ordinance did 10 © 2015 Thomson Reuters